BMW has just shown off its 20th official art car, designed by artist Julie Mehratu. The car is the BMW M Hybrid V8, which will compete in the Le Mans Hypercar race. The design is colorful and inspired by motorsport. Mehratu says the art car is only finished once the race is over.
The design is also influenced by Mehratu’s painting called Everywhen, which is currently on display in Venice. It’s made with digitally altered photos layered with dot grids, neon-colored veils, and black markings.
“In the studio, when I had the model of the BMW M Hybrid V8, I was just sitting in front of the painting and I thought: What would happen if this car seemed to go through that painting and becomes affected by it? The idea was to make a remix, a mash-up of the painting. I kept seeing that painting kind of dripping into the car. Even the kidneys of the car inhaled the painting,” said Julie Mehratu, the artist.
BMW’s CEO, Oliver Zipse, sees art cars as essential to show the company’s connection to culture. He says they’ve been working with artists who are fascinated by mobility and design for almost 50 years. Julie Mehretu’s ideas have inspired them to expand their cultural commitment to promote the creativity of young African artists.
While there have been visually striking BMWs before, very few are considered true BMW Art Cars. The official art cars are created by renowned artists for expression, while non-official ones are more about promoting events and products. Official BMW Art Cars are usually based on special cars, not mid-range EVs.
Mehratu’s creation will race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns, and René Rast sharing driving duties. The car will enter using the number 20. Before the race, the Art Car will be shown at Villa d’Este, along with other BMW Art Cars from previous years.
